


every other beat the other one beats for

by mysilenceknot



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, First Kiss, Fluff, Hanukkah, Jewish Holidays, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:42:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22043515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysilenceknot/pseuds/mysilenceknot
Summary: Poe invites Finn to a family Hanukkah party. Despite Rose & Rey insisting otherwise, Finn's convinced that Poe only asked him because they're friends. Right?
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Rose Tico
Comments: 10
Kudos: 111





	every other beat the other one beats for

**Author's Note:**

> When I was coming up with the relationships for this story, I had a moment where I asked myself why exactly I made every character gay or bi. Then I realized that four of the seven children in my family are LGBT and therefore it easily checks out.  
> Artoo and Threepio are humans in this story and also married.  
> Title comes from [Sweater Weather](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nYsM9sTqxo) by The Neighbourhood as covered by Kina Grannis. Here's to not cleaning out the candle wax buildup until next year.

Finn liked to pride himself on his tidyness. It was a behavior ingrained into him, a side effect of spending the vast majority of his childhood in boarding schools. But finals had resulted in a slow accumulation of water cups, tea mugs, and empty cereal bowls. Now that his last essay of the term had been submitted, it was time to bring the apartment he shared with a friend back in order. Rose had cleaned up the living room earlier that morning, leaving the dishes for Finn.

(“If you’ll do the dishes, I’ll do the living room _and_ your laundry,” he had begged the night before.

“Nice try,” she’d laughed. “But I actually like doing laundry. It’s soothing.”)

He was so focused on getting the dishes done that he didn’t realize Rose had returned to the apartment until he caught movement in the corner of his left eye. Finn jumped, whirling around to see his roommate standing behind him with a polite smile on her face.

“Jesus, Rose!” He took his ear buds out.

“Guess what a little bird told me,” she said, ignoring his surprise.

“What?

“A little bird told me that you were invited to be Poe Dameron’s plus one at Hanukkah dinner on Sunday.”

Finn turned back around to face the mostly empty sink. He knew he had a terrible poker face and he didn’t want Rose to see how flustered he was by the aforementioned dinner invite. “Oh, really? And why did the little bird tell you that?”

“Because I’m her plus one, duh.” Rose walked over to the counter, leaning on it and staring at Finn.

“Wait.” Finn stopped scrubbing a bowl. “He didn’t say Rey was going to be there.”

“It’s at her aunt’s house, of course she’s going to be there.”

“What?”

“What do you mean by ‘what’?”

“I mean, he didn’t tell me whose place it was at. I assumed it was connected to other people from school.”

Rose sighed. “Did he text you the address?”

Finn nodded, turning on the water to rinse the last of the dishes. Rose stepped away from the counter and walked into the living room. “He asked you out through text?” he heard Rose call.

“He didn’t ask me out, he asked if I wanted to come to dinner.”

“What a scrub. He should have called like a decent person.”

With a sigh, Finn dried his hands on a towel before following after Rose. “First off, give me back my phone.” Rose rolled her eyes but returned the cell to him. “Second off, I’m not his plus one, he literally just asked if I wanted to go to a Hanukkah dinner with him.”

“Mmhm. I’m unconvinced. So I texted him to confirm.”

“You what?” Panicked, he opened his text messages with Poe to see what exactly his soon-to-be-ex-roommate had sent.

“With my own phone.” She laughed before clarifying, “I actually texted Rey and she’s going to confirm with him.”

Finn flopped on the couch next to Rose, covering his eyes with an arm. “I despise you both. Also, it doesn’t make a difference what he says, if you two are there it’s a group function.”

"It's a family function,” Rose corrected. “He wants you to meet the family in an informal setting. That's totally a sign that he's into you too!” She poked Finn until he moved his arm. He gave her a half-hearted glare. “Leia’s gonna love you.”

* * *

Finn and Rose had barely climbed up the stairs to the porch when the door to the Organa-Solo home flew open. “You’re here!” Rey cried with excitement. She stepped to the side of the door to let the pair enter, giving Rose a firm kiss and Finn a tight hug as they passed.

“Were you waiting at the window for us?” Rose asked jokingly. Rey stuck out her tongue in response, and Rose in turn poked her nose. Finn smiled at their antics. He’d been very nervous as he and Rose had approached the house, but being around Rey always calmed him down. It almost made him forget that she hadn’t been the one to give him the invite.

Almost.

“Where’s Poe?” Rose asked innocently. Finn knew the game she was playing but before he or Rey had a chance to respond, a voice called out from deeper in the house.

“You made it!” Finn turned to see Poe, eyes wide and bright, holding his arms out. He pulled Rose and Finn into a hug, ignoring the fact that Rey was there too. This resulted in Rey being squashed between them all. “It’s so good to see you, it’s felt like an eternity.”

“It’s nice to see you too, buddy,” Finn said, leaning into the group hold. He was content to just stand there in the foyer, hugging his four best friends. The moment was abruptly ended when Rey punched Poe in the stomach and Poe stepped back with an ‘oof’ noise. Finn couldn’t help but join Rose in laughter as Poe dramatically withered to the floor.

“You come to my house and treat me this way? On Hanukkah?”

“Not even G-d can stand up to the power of Rey,” Finn said solemnly. He reached out a hand to help Poe stand.

“That’s my girl,” Rose said with a smile, quickly kissing her girlfriend’s cheek. “Charming and disarming.”

“Ha ha ha.” The sarcasm in Poe’s voice was heavy. Finn had to bite his lip to keep from smiling. Rey grabbed Rose’s hand and moved the group to the living room. It was a big house yet it felt lived in. Framed art lined the hallway and more family photographs than Finn could imagine one family would even bother to have filled the walls of the living room. The other side of the room opened to the dining room and Finn assumed the kitchen was next to that.

“You three, stay here.” Poe said, and Finn stopped in his tracks. “I’ve got a surprise.” He winked at Finn and ran upstairs. 

“Anyways,” Rey said, immediately ignoring Poe’s request. “Let me introduce you to the family.” She walked into the living room, still holding her girlfriend’s hand. “This is Artoo and Threepio. And that’s my aunt’s partner, Amilyn.” Rose and Finn shook each person’s hand in turn. “Small talk later,” Rey insisted, giving them very little chance to do anything other than say their names. They entered the dining room and Rey introduced them to her cousin Kayden Ko and Kayden Ko’s girlfriend Jessika. “And of course, Uncle Luke.”

“It’s nice to see you both again,” Luke said. “It’s been awhile.”

“It has. How’s the farm?”

“Oh, you know. It sure is a farm.” Finn had joined Rey on a visit to the Skywalker farm during summer break. According to Rey, the family had only bought the house and some land around it two generations ago, but when Luke inherited the house, he turned the farm into a passion project. “But I did bring over freshly made applesauce and sour cream as proof of the fruits of my labor.”

“And the potatoes for latkes,” Kayden Ko added.

“Wait,” Rose said. “Rey didn’t say you had dairy cows.”

Luke chuckled. “I don’t! The barter system works wonders for us all.”

“Yeah, money is a great way to barter.” Everyone in the room turned to look at the speaker, an older woman who had laughter lines near her eyes that rivaled Luke’s. “You don’t know any dairy farmers. Have you even _met_ a cow?”

“Leia, what type of question is that? Have _you_ met a cow?”

“I’ve had my share of adventures,” Leia responded, before turning to greet the newest guests. “You must be Finn, then?”

“Yes, hi.” He reached out to shake Leia’s hand. “I’ve heard the best things about you.”

“I was actually about to say that to you.” She smiled and Finn immediately smiled back. 

“Nice try, Connix, but you can’t separate me from the best things in life.” Finn turned to see Poe re-enter with his arms full of clothes. “You clearly envy my sense of style.”

“Since when do you have style?” Finn asked. He caught the blue sweater that Poe threw at him, turning it around to see front. It had a Hanukkah menorah in the center with sequins where the flames should have been. Finn hadn’t really registered it when Rey was doing the introductions, but everyone sans Amilyn and Leia were wearing themed blue sweaters. After pulling on his own, Finn looked around the room to read everyone elses. Rey’s read 'THEY SEE ME ROLLING' with a pair of dreidels which matched well with Rose’s said 'YOU SPIN ME RIGHT ROUND, BABY' with a solo spinning dreidel in the center. He laughed at Luke’s 'HAPPY LLAMAKKAH' sweater, complete with a chewing llama head. 

Finally, Finn turned back to see Poe, grinning widely. Poe’s sweater had a menorah on it as well, but instead of sequins the candles were lit by actual yellow lights. “Impressive, right?” The seven lit lights twinkled.

They both laughed, but Finn’s laugh caught in his throat when Poe grabbed him by the hand. Poe guided him back into the hallway.

“There’s something special about the one I gave you.” Poe reached out to touch the center of the menorah on Finn’s sweater.

“Oh?” Finn tried to be nonchalant. “Is it because you knew that it’d make me the best dressed of us all?

Poe chuckled. “Actually,” he said, “it’s because yours can light up too.” Slowly, Poe brushed his finger up the sequins, revealing a yellow flame where blue once was. Finn tried to keep his breath steady as Poe stepped closer. “The center candle is called the shammash and it’s used to light the rest of the candles.” Poe moved his hand to the left, lighting each candle in turn.. “We add a candle each day from right to left, but the same lights them from left to right. My mom used to say that if you lit them with your right hand, it kept the shadow from falling over the lit flames.” Finn looked up to see Poe smile. 

He could barely breathe.

They stood together in silence for a few moments. Finn felt himself wet his lips and Poe’s eyes widened, but before Finn had a chance to lean forward, Threepio ducked his head into the hallway and the pair stepped away from each other.

“It’s sundown, time to light the hannukiah.”

* * *

After the candle lighting and prayers, after the dinner of brisket and latkes and kugel, after the variety of family stories and the laughter they caused, and after three rounds of dreidel, Finn found himself standing in front of a bulletin board covered in dozens photos. Some of them were carefully posed polaroids, others were blurry motion pictures that likely came from a 00s disposable camera. He took his time studying each one, smiling at the ones with people he recognized and wondering what the stories were behind the people he didn’t.

“This was a Christmas present, ironically.” Finn jumped, so immersed in his thoughts that he didn’t hear Leia walk up to him. “My late husband, Han, gifted it to me a decade ago. He and my other son put it together with Luke’s help.” 

“Your other son -- Kylo?”

“Yes.” She smiled wistfully before pointing at a slightly comical picture of Poe and Kylo sitting next to each other while eating popsicles that dripped bright colors on the fronts of their shirts. “He wasn’t exactly thrilled when we became Poe’s guardians but, what can you do?”

Finn nodded. Looking back at the board, he pointed at a picture of a much younger Luke laughing with another man, arms thrown over each other’s shoulders. “Is this Han?”

“Yup. And that,” she said as she points at a polaroid, “is from our first date. Taken by my mom who pretended to not be a little disappointed that I wasn’t dating a boy from our shul. I remember telling her that it just meant it was Luke’s destiny to find a guy from shul instead.” Finn laughed along with Leia.

Leia slowly went through the photos, telling little anecdotes about the people in them and their lives. It was amazing to Finn to see how large this family was. He was an only child, the son of people who were too busy to really be around for anything. When he came home from boarding school in the summer he was watched by a family friend. He cherished the one night a week that his parents took out for a family dinner, even though they were often quiet and awkward. And even though Poe and Rey had their own issues and traumas around their immediate family members, they were part of a huge extended community.

Sometimes the entire thing made Finn feel insecure.

But Rey, Rose and Poe always made Finn feel included. He had found a secondary family, a family that didn’t judge him or ignore him. When he was honest with himself, that’s part of why he’d been so afraid of making a move. He was afraid of rejection, afraid of what it would do to their friendship if he tried to change the status quo. Both Rey and Rose had reminded him that when the two of them started dating it didn’t change the friendship the four of them had. It somehow felt different for him

“Poe talks about you a lot,” Leia said. Finn felt his heart beat a little faster. “I’m really glad that he has someone like you to keep him grounded.”

“It’s not problem at all, he’s very fun to have around.”

Leia looked a little past him before leaning in conspiratorially. “I’m hoping we get to add a picture of you to this wall soon.” She patted his shoulder and left. Finn’s heart raced. 

Turning, he saw Poe making his way across the room and he knew what he had to do.

“Hey! You missed me crushing the competition.” Poe held up a fist full of Hershey’s kisses. “Threepio tried to talk him out of it, but Artoo decided it’s time to play poker now, and we both know I’m shit at that game. Threepio’s logic is that dreidel was played to specifically hide gambling but hey, what can you do?”

Finn walked away from the photos to meet him. Poe’s eyes were bright and his face was slightly flushed. Finn wasn’t sure if it was because of the wine they’d been drinking or if it was from the thrill of the competition. Probably both. “Can we talk?” he asked.

“Sure.” Now it was Finn’s turn to hold Poe’s hand.

“I noticed that everyone here is with a partner. Well, everyone except Luke.”

“Uncle Luke’s a life-long bachelor.” Poe laughed. “It’s almost a running joke.”

“I’m sure it is.” Finn returned the smile. “So. Everyone here is with a partner. Except you.” He took a deep breath to calm his nerves; he felt Poe’s fingers twitch. “Both Rose and Rey claimed that I counted as your plus one, but I wanted to hear it from you. Did you invite me here as your date?”

“Yes,” Poe breathed. “Yes, I asked you here as my date. And I know it’s a little weird to meet the family on an unofficial date, but I’d asked Aunt Leia and she said she was okay with it so…”

“So?”

“So, I’ve really wanted to kiss you for months and I just haven’t figured out the best way to get that across. You’re fantastic, Finn.” His eyes crinkled up as he smiled. “You’re funny and smart and caring and--”

As much as Finn wanted to continue to listen to Poe compliment him, he wanted to kiss Poe more, so he grabbed Poe’s terrible sweater in his fist and pulled him in close, finally letting their lips press together. After barely a second Finn heard the clear sound of chocolate falling onto the wooden floor. Poe put one hand against Finn’s face; the other grabbed his waist. 

They stood kissing in the hallway and the noises from the other rooms faded away. It was just them, two men finally taking a chance. After a minute or so, Finn pulled away.

“--and hot, holy _shit_ ” Poe finally finished. 

Finn laughed. “You look pretty great as well.” He carded his fingers through Poe’s hair. “Not in that sweater, but otherwise.”

“Not you too,” Poe groaned. “It’s a great fashion statement.”

Leaning down, Finn picked up some of the fallen chocolate. He unwrapped one and pressed it to Poe’s lips. As soon as Poe started eating it, Finn took the time to counter “it’s tacky.” He grabbed Poe’s hand again and laughed as they returned to the festivities, his heart light.

**Author's Note:**

> During Hanukkah this year, my friend got me a sweatshirt that read 'DECK THE HALLS WITH MATZO BALLS'. I spent so long looking for other ridiculous sweatshirts that it felt like a waste to _not_ give each character their own sweater.  
> (Amilyn doesn't have one because Leia refused to wear one.)  
> Each name links to a different sweater: [Poe](https://www.francescas.com/product/menorah-light-up-sweater.do) \- [Finn](https://poshmark.com/listing/ugly-Christmas-Hanukkah-sequined-holiday-sweater-5d5ad43d19c1573d13f6cbd3) \- [Rey](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081BDX6KH/) \- [Rose](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01192OZ0S/?linkCode=xm2) \- [Luke](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011ML12FC?linkCode=xm2) \- [Artoo](https://www.teepublic.com/crewneck-sweatshirt/3420566-funny-ugly-hanukkah-sweater-challah-at-ya-boy) \- [Threepio](https://www.zulily.com/p/blue-night-before-hanukkah-sweater-mens-regular-243132-47763102.html) \- [Jessika](https://awkwardstyles.com/product/awkward-styles-hanukkah-sweatshirt-jewish-happy-challah-days-off-shoulder-sweater/) \- [Kayden Ko](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HJGJWLR/?linkCode=xm2)


End file.
